How To Submit a Petition

Petitions can be submitted at any time, preferably before a studentâ€™s graduation term. Our recommendation on the best time to submit a petition for exception or substitution would be while you are meeting with the student on the progress of their degree requirements. If a student has an incomplete requirement for the academic program (major, minor, or certificate), but the advisor knows that the student has met that requirement via an exception, course substitution, or waiverÂ approved by the department, the official certifier for the department must complete a â€śPetitionâ€ť in Degree Works in order for the requirement to be marked as â€ścompleteâ€ť on the degree audit. This includes:

A course that appears in the â€śGeneral Electivesâ€ť (or in any other block) that should be applied to a requirement in the major, minor, or certificate block.

A requirement that is to be waived for any reason (such as fluency in a language)

A course that is allowed to substitute for the stated requirement

An additional elective (in a list or range of electives) is allowed to fulfill the requirement for a specific student

A non-course requirement has been completed (such as a service learning project).

To approve or not approve completion of program requirements

Any instances that require an exception to be made to the stated course requirements, or any non-course requirements that have been met but not marked as such will require the advisor to initiate the â€śPetitionâ€ť process.

Go to the top of the Degree Works audit worksheet and click the tab labeled â€śPetitionsâ€ť.Â

After clicking the â€śPetitionsâ€ť tab, the â€śAdd Petitionâ€ť field should be highlighted. Click anywhere in the field to describe the reason for the petition.Â

Course waiver: â€śDepartment Chair has waived FREN 101 in the Elementary French I requirement for this student due to native fluency,â€ť or â€śPlease waive MUSI 211 in the Theory I requirement. Student has met this requirement through a placement exam.â€ť

Course substitution: â€śDepartment has approved MATH 312 to substitute for MATH 322 in the Ordinary Differential Equations and Multivariable Calculus requirement, â€ť or â€śPlease use ELEC 302 instead of ELEC 301 in the Introduction to Signals requirement.â€ť

Exceptions related to the catalog year: â€śStudent is following graduation requirements for the 2011-2012 matriculation catalog. However, BIOC 365 was not offered until 2014-2015 and will fulfill the Laboratories in BIOC or BIOE requirement.â€ť

Non-course course requirement: â€śStudent passed piano proficiency exam on December 1, 2014,â€ť or â€śStudent completed one of the service learning requirements in March 2015.â€ťÂ

Approval of a major, minor, or certificate:Â â€śStudent is approved for the ENGL major,â€ť or â€śStudent is not approved for the ECON major because he is missing ECON 302,â€ť or â€śBUSI minor not approved because student does not have enough courses.â€ť

When finished, click â€śSubmit Petition.â€ť You should see a message that says, â€śYour petition was added successfully.â€ť

You can return to the studentâ€™s audit by clicking â€śWorksheetsâ€ť or enter a new Student ID in the upper left corner to navigate to a different degree audit.

Once the Office of the Registrar has received notification of a petition pending in Degree Works, the petition will be processed within three business days, and an exception added to the studentâ€™s degree audit. The requirement petitioned will then be listed as complete. Pertinent details from the petition memo will be included on the degree audit and viewable to the student.Â In some cases, the Office of the Registrar may contact the official certifier for further clarity regarding a petition.Â The Official Certifier can modify an existing petition or submit a new petition with the necessary information. Â